As Residents of Plaza East Condemn Developer’s Plan to Build Market Rate Housing on Public Housing Site, Supervisor Preston Introduces Resolution Calling for Alternative Development Options

SAN FRANCISCO — Supervisor Dean Preston introduced a Resolution calling on the San Francisco Housing Authority to present alternatives to the current demolition and redevelopment plans for Plaza East, a public housing site located in the Fillmore. The Resolution responds to an outcry from Plaza East residents who have seen their requests to the Housing Authority and developer McCormack Baron Salazar go unanswered. At the heart of the dispute is the developer’s recent announcement of plans to build hundreds of market rate housing units on this public housing site.

“The residents at Plaza East have dealt with decades of government neglect and inaction”, said Supervisor Preston. “It’s insulting that after a year of obscuring their intentions, the developer now wants to bulldoze the property to make way for market rate housing on a public housing site. Residents should be presented with options, including plans that do not rely on market-rate units, to allow residents the opportunity to fully weigh in on the future of their homes and community.”

Despite repeated requests over the last two years for clarity regarding intentions with respect to building market-rate housing on the site, MBS provided no information until recently. In a presentation to residents at a community meeting on February 22, 2022, MBS confirmed for the first time that the development plans would include hundreds of market-rate housing units at Plaza East, and that MBS would bring on a private market rate developer to the development team. Supervisor Preston has repeatedly asked the Housing Authority and MBS to explore redevelopment plans that do not rely on private, market-rate development at the public housing site.

“I don’t understand how the Housing Authority is allowing the same developer that rebuilt Plaza East just 20 years ago, to do it all over again,” Yolanda Marshall, a Plaza East resident of over 10 years. “Our patience and trust has run out, especially now, as MBS wants to start this process all over again, this time with hundreds of market-rate units here. We want some real options, instead of just a plan to gentrify the Fillmore and drive more Black residents out of our community.”

The Resolution introduced by Supervisor Preston calls on the Housing Authority to explore alternatives to the plans currently being proposed by MBS. “I’ve asked more times than I can count for them to lay out an alternative that’s 100% affordable, identify any funding gaps, and work with residents and my office to make it happen. They’ve refused to do so. They’re hell bent on putting market rate housing here that nobody in the neighborhood can afford,” said Supervisor Preston.

The resolution also references the new Faircloth-to-RAD program announced by HUD in April of this year. The program offers an opportunity to grow the number of units at Plaza East while keeping them all affordable to low-income and working class San Franciscans. To date, the Housing Authority and MBS have dismissed, without even reaching out to HUD, the potential use of the program to ensure broader affordability at Plaza East.

“With all this talk about investing in the black community, I’d like to see it here. Let the residents lead development planning that centers resident needs, keeps us housed, improves living conditions, and offers more homes that members of our community can afford,” said Rashad Owens, a displaced resident from Plaza East.

Preston’s Resolution also urges that any development plan replace not just the current 193 public housing units, but also the 83 units that were lost in the 2001 demolition and redevelopment under HOPE VI. That redevelopment, also by the same developer, MBS, resulted in a 30% reduction of the units from 276 to 193, displacing many Black families from the Fillmore.

The resolution calls for the San Francisco Housing Authority to respond with alternate plans within 60 days.

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